Ecclestone: The new F1 engines sound terrible

1 October 2012 – Bernie Ecclestone has expressed more criticism over the new 1.6-litre, V6 turbo engines which are set to be introduced to F1 in 2014. The units are designed to be far more environmentally friendly but the head of Formula One Management (FOM, commercial rights holder for the sport) has again shared his worries over the sound.

“I listened to the noise of the engines in Maranello the other day, the new engine and the old engine, and even (Ferrari President) Luca di Montezemolo said it sounded terrible and didn't like it,” Ecclestone told The Hindustan Times.

“(Jean Todt, FIA President) will get rid of it. I think Luca is also saying we should suspend it for two or three years. I think it is sensible to get rid of it and stick with what we’ve got. It is much cheaper than the new one. It probably could be 30 percent of the price. I blame the FIA for this stupid engine formula. It really wasn't (Todt's) fault; Mosley (former FIA President) started the engine and then he got carried away.”

Ecclestone’s comments are likely to cause annoyance throughout the engine manufacturing world, with the 2014 regulations having already been changed once from straight-four to the V6 format which is currently set to enter F1.

“The sport has already accepted going from the idea of a four-cylinder powertrain to six-cylinder,” Craig Pollock, CEO of the new PURE Corporation, told GPUpdate.net in June. “Bernie wants to do an IPO and say that he has a sport which is stable and cannot change the rules from one moment to the next. We have done it once and it doesn’t make sense to do that again. It would not make sense. It makes this sport look ridiculous.”

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